Liz and I rode over to the Panhandle, saw a Katamari get rolling on Bay to Breakers, cooked some albacore, and then rode back through the Mission. It started raining, so we hustled back to my house. Unfortunately the bike doesn't like moisture all that much--it stalled out twice on Folsom and refused to start again a block from my house. Got real acquainted with its weight pushing it up my hill. :)

But if you think of "grown up" as a fungible state, not one that starts at 18 or 21 or 25 or whenever, then what I wanted to be when I grew up was exactly what I did: Pretty much everything I enjoy doing (save cycling) I've done professionally at one time or another. It's a work in progress...I'll be a grown up someday!

today. Woke up way too early for the privilege of being the first person at the San Francisco DMV
, took a couple tests and got the sheet of paper (why California insists on this archaic process of mailing your license after a couple weeks is beyond me).

has graciously offered to loan me a bike for a while, so I think I can put off a purchase for a couple months. Every friend I have who rides has told me the same thing: Don't get the bike you really want first. Get a first bike, get comfortable riding it (translation: drop it a couple times), then spend the lucre on the real thing.

So I've been trying to determine the likelyhood of crashing a motorcycle in the first N units of time. Factors in my calculation:

I have plenty of experience riding a bicycle in traffic. San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo and rural riding. Mountain biking, road and track (velodrome). I ride a brakeless track bike 300 days a year, rain or shine. Logged a few thousand miles.

Had an automobile license for 14 years, and no tickets (speeding or otherwise) in 5 years. My car has a stickshift, 300HP and a big spoiler. Still have good driver discount. ;)

Since I've been cycling seriously, I've had only 2 incidents that could be categorized as crashes.

Both crashes involved MUNI rails.

Both crashes were on a mountain bike with knobby tires (note to self: not great for city riding).

Only one crash resulted in an injury.

Zero incidents on a road or track bike (brakeless or otherwise).

Percentage of bicycle rides without a helmet: 0.05%

Percentage of unhelmeted rides longer than 2 miles: 0%

So I have a good safety record behind the wheel and handlebars. I like to go fast, but with a safety margin. Assuming I keep things reasonable for the first thousand miles or so on a motorcycle, the risk of an injury resulting from a crash or other incident resulting from my own actions should be relatively low.*

Galapagos islands, the Easter islands or Nepal. The more geographically remote and pristine, the better. I'm a city boy and always will be, so maybe that's why I prefer vacations with as few people around as possible.